Read More

Forest head to Sheffield Wednesday tomorrow looking to bounce back from a flat performance - and a defeat - at the hands of Leeds before the international break.

They will head to Yorkshire without Chris Cohen, who has had minor knee surgery, as well as Jamie Ward (calf), Matty Cash (ankle) and David Vaughan (groin) who are all making good progress, but are not yet ready for a first team return, according to their manager.

Read More

Have your say on anything Forest related when we kick off at noon, but feel free to get your questions and comments in before then.

Simply type your name and your question into the box below.

14:20

And on that bombshell...

It is time to call it a day.

Apologies for the slight delay just after 1.15pm... I got distracted by a phone call.

Turns out my multi-tasking abilities need some work. Struggled to type and talk at the same time.

Have a great weekend folks and, if you are making the trip to Hillsborough, I hope you get value for money for that £33 ticket (that run of five defeats against the Owls has to end at some point, doesn’t it?).

Hopefully see you here next week,

Thanks for your questions and comments,

Cheers,

Tails

14:17

Firstly Carla, a word of advice...

NEVER take betting tips from me. I am useless. I might as well just hand a crisp tenner to a bookie every Saturday afternoon, to cut out all the faff in between.

That is a strong group of teams right there.

Derby could, quite honesty, finish in fourth or 14th - neither would be a shock.

Villa have very, very good players, but that so far has not turned them into a good team. Steve Bruce has work to do to transform them into promotion contenders, even if they absolutely should be, when you look at their team on paper.

Hull were thin on the ground - until they completed a flurry of late business, that could well turn them into contenders. Larsson, Toral, Dicko and Irvine are all very good signings.

Wolves have just thrown money at it... they are the ones to watch. They have added some outstanding players and have a quality manager to boot.

And we saw first hand how good Leeds were before the international break...

Forest have the ability to finish above all of them, if they can find some consistency.

But, for me, if you finish above Wolves and Middlesbrough this season, you are probably going to win promotion.

That will be the toughest test.

And, to be frank, I am not sure that Forest are quite that good just yet.

But that does not mean there is not room for optimism and hope.

14:09

QUESTION from Carla...

Hi Paul. Forest are by no means big-spenders in the Championship this season. But which of the following teams do you think we’ll finish above - Derby, Villa, Hull, Leeds and Wolves? * I may have a cheeky bet on this so no pressure!

14:08

This saga still has something left to give...

It would be a huge surprise if Forest do not try their luck with this one again in January.

They were obviously very keen to get it done in the final days of the window - and made an offer in the region of £2m for the midfielder.

Forget talk of him being worth £5m - that is a vastly inflated price tag. It was a little surprising that £2m was not enough to get it done.

But in January, when he has 18 months left to run on his contract, Forest will try again to get the deal done and it feels as though it is likely to happen.

Neil Lennon’s tone has seemed to soften on this one since the deadline passed - and he himself has said he expects another bid from Forest in January.

What will be interesting will be if anyone else is interested come January. If he plays well between now and then, Forest might have a rival or two by the time the next window comes around.

But I’d expect that Forest will push again to get the deal done.

14:00

QUESTION from Mark Jones...

Are we going to bid again for John m from hibs

13:58

Because he has a groin injury...

As stated in the paragraphs directly underneath the team... Vaughan remains a major doubt for this weekend.

13:58

Question from Kezza...

If Vaughan is so important, then why have you left him out of your line up? lol

13:54

Not expecting anything too dramatic...

My guess would be:

4-2-3-1

Smith

Darikwa, Worrall, Mills, Traore

Bridcutt, Bouchalakis

Dowell, Osborn, McKay

Murphy

I can’t explain why - there is certainly no evidence to support this - but part of me wonders if Vaughan might be a little closer to fitness than Warburton was letting on at the press conference.

The suggestion before the international break was that Vaughan might have been pressed into action against Leeds, in an emergency... and two weeks have passed since then.

If he is fit, for me he has to play - they missed him more than anyone against Leeds. They needed somebody to take the game by the scruff of the neck and give Forest some tempo.

That is what he is best at.

13:50

QUESTION from Chip...

Starting XI for tomorrow Paul?

13:48

Well...

Danny Ward is a very good keeper and he would have been a decent signing.

But, presumably, if he was available, Huddersfield would have tried to sign him again themselves?

Instead of which, they signed a Dane, Jonas Lossl, on loan from Mainz.

And they also snapped up Rob Green on a free transfer as back up.

Forest, in the meantime, were making a strong effort to sign Frederick Ronnow, a keeper who has been picked by the Denmark national side in recent times, ahead of Lossl. Although Lossl does have one cap.

The initial issue with that was that a fee could not be agreed with Brondby. Then, once Forest had reached a point where the right amount of money was on the table to get the deal done, it was the player himself who went cold on the move.

You suspect that was because of late interest from Crystal Palace - and the opportunity to play Premier League football.

As it happens, that deal did not happen either.

But had Forest got a deal over the line for Ronnow, it would have been a very, very good signing indeed.

The Danish media rate him very highly.

13:40

QUESTION from Gratollini

Darren Ward was brilliant at Huddersfield last season but is now back at Liverpool as 3rd choice goalkeeper. Why on Earth we didn’t go for him instead of all the faffing we did do is beyond me. He’s a no-brainer for me. Very disappointing that we didn’t go in for him.

13:39

The home dressing rooms...

Have not only had a lick of paint and been completely refitted when it comes to all the seating and storage, etc, they have also been quite significantly expanded. So they are much bigger than the away dressing room.

The home dressing rooms look great.

I’ll be honest, I’ve not poked my head into the away dressing room for a while, so not sure what state it is currently in. But know it has not had the same work done to it. So it is not going to be anything like as nice.

Which is perhaps the way it should be.

13:36

QUESTION from Si

I’ve read a few times that the “Home” changing rooms have been upgraded. Does that mean the Away dressing rooms have not been done so opponents have to get changed in the cold with paint peeling off the walls etc? If so, great idea! I seem to remember Alex ferguson ordering that the away dressing rooms’ central heating was turned off, or it could have been Cloughie? All the little details count!

13:35

Defensive fragility...

Forest do need to iron out their defensive fragility from set pieces; they are far from being the finished product just yet.

And it is still too soon to start talking about automatic promotion.

But there is no reason why their goal, between now and the end of the month, cannot be to stay in the top six; to keep in touch with the play-off race.

They have six Championship games and a tough trip to Chelsea in the EFL Cup - which is a game they can just enjoy, because there is no expectation.

They are not going to win all six games. But a return of nine or ten points would be decent, wouldn’t it?

And that is not unrealistic.

13:32

Good question...

It is a massive, massive month... one that is an exciting prospect.

It isn’t going to decide the outcome of the season. But it will provide a good indicator of how much progress Forest have made.

We know they have made significant progress - but it will say a great deal if Forest are still in the top six come the end of September.

There is no reason to believe that they won’t be.

The only thing Forest haven’t proved so far is that they can be consistent.

They have produced a quality of performance that would be competitive against any team in the Championship - and they have also been poor against Millwall and Leeds.

If they can play regularly to the level that they did against Barnsley, Middlesbrough and, to a lesser degree, Brentford, then they have nothing to fear against anyone in the second tier.

But that is the key.

At their best, Forest can beat Sheffield Wednesday this weekend. They can go to Sunderland and get a win there. They can go toe-to-toe with Wolves when they arrive at the City Ground and have a good chance of emerging with three points.

They can go to Aston Villa and get something... they can beat Fulham and Sheffield United at the CG.

You get the idea.

13:16

QUESTION from Neil

As mentioned in one of your previous articles this week, Forest are facing a massive month of fixtures both in quantity and quality. What sort of position would realistically expect Forest to be in come the beginning of October, and do you think the current injuries will have a negative impact on results in the coming weeks?

13:15

It's there Garry...

You obviously just aren’t looking hard enough pal.

13:15

QUESTION from Garry H

are you not answering the emergency loan keeper question then tails? lol

13:13

In short, yes...

Ben Osborn did a very good job down the left side last season - but let’s not get drawn into a debate about his qualities again... we’ve covered that ground before.

But he and McKay are both very flexible.

McKay’s pace and trickery make him the more obvious option to play down the left side, as he can beat his man and get balls into the box - or get a shot off himself. He already looks to be an outstanding signing. But we have said that before as well!

He does have the passing and vision to play in a more central role as well - McKay can play in that number 10 position.

Osborn has started in that number 10 role more often. But the trio of attacking midfielders/forwards who play off Murphy are all so fluid, they end up swapping positions between themselves every five minutes.

They can play in the same team, without doubt. Suspect you will see them do so fairly regularly.

Kieran Dowell, Zack Clough, Ben Brereton, Muzzy Carayol and Jason Cummings can also slot into that three as well. So Forest have plenty of options in that area.

That, in fact, is one of the reasons why you start to think that they won’t miss Assombalonga too much - because they have so many players now who can all contribute goals.

Murphy will get 15 to 20. But there are half a dozen players beyond him who are capable of getting into double figures for the season.

That is an important asset when you think back to the Freedman days when Forest badly struggled for firepower, with the personnel they had available.

13:04

QUESTION from Tom

Do you think you can play Ben Osborn and Barrie McKay in the same side and get the best out of them considering they both play on the left?

13:00

Well...

Cohen has had what Warburton described as ‘small’ surgery on his knee - and the manager says it will be weeks, rather than months, before he is back in action. Forest’s won’t rush him back, however, following his previous issues with his knees.

Vaughan is not long-term. MW suggested that he will not be involved in the next two games, but suspect he will not be far off after that. He is already doing some running.

The same applies to Jamie Ward, who is also back doing some running following his calf problem and will not be too far away from a return.

Cash is still a little bit further away from a return, but is actually ahead of schedule, given that he was looking at two or three months on the sidelines following a pretty bad ankle injury. Forest are happy with the progress he is making.

12:57

QUESTION from North Red

Injury update please Tails. Are Cohen and Vaughn both long term? ward back running yet. Cash making good progress?

12:53

Well...

Ben has started two games this season, one of which was against Millwall - when to be frank everyone struggled. He did start on the right side that day. But he was not the only one to have a difficult afternoon, in a game in which Millwall should have won by some margin, but somehow ended up losing 1-0.

The other game he started was at Newcastle, in the EFL Cup, when he and Jason Cummings started together up front, as an orthodox front two.

And he played well that day. He looked lively.

Ben himself actually briefly mentioned how he would be happy to play on the right or the left, if it meant he was getting some game time for Forest, when we spoke to him after the England under-19 game at Mansfield.

Don’t get the feeling it is something he has a massive issue with.

And he does have the qualities to flourish in that wider role, as part of an attacking three supporting a lone striker.

He is quick and powerful and likes to run with the ball. He is not shy about taking on defenders and, if he cuts inside, he is still quite good and getting into the box and into dangerous areas.

No doubt he would like to play centrally, because he is a striker after all.

But Daryl Murphy is doing a great job there at the minute. He looks to be a very good signing. Murphy scores goals and he brings others into play.

It could be the best £2m ever spent on a 34-year-old in the Championship.

Ben is not the type of character to have his bottom lip out over being asked to play in a slightly different role. Pretty sure he’d be happy to get a chance in the starting XI in any position.

It is sometimes easy to forget that he is still only 18. He doesn’t even turn 19 until April. He is young and he is still learning.

He has a heck of a future ahead of him still and being asked to play on the right side occasionally is not going to impact on that in the slightest.

12:42

QUESTION from Nick

Hi Paul. Ben Brerton seems to be struggling to me this season being played on the right. It doesnt seem to suit him and I wonder if it is knocking his confidence. Would it not be better simply to keep him in the middle, if the main oppotunity for that is as sub then so be it?

12:40

No, not unless there are more injuries - and a lot of them

To qualify for an emergency loan signing, a club has to have no experienced keepers available to them.

Not sure what the precise terminology is to define ‘experienced’ - but it is definitely judged on how many games they have played in first team football. Believe it is either five or ten games.

So Federici’s injury alone would leave Forest a long way short of qualifying for an emergency loan.

Smith and Stephen Henderson will both qualify as ‘experienced’ and I believe even Dimi Evtimov would, as he played ten first team games for Mansfield during a loan spell there.

So Forest would have to see all three of those players pick up an injury before they would be allowed an emergency loan.

And even they aren’t that unlucky.

12:32

QUESTION from Chris B

Are we elegible for an emergency loan for a keeper if Federici’s injury is long term?

12:31

It is a unique position...

Eric Lichaj will not have been plunged into crisis when Tendayi Darikwa signed in the summer and Ben Osborn won’t have been banging on the manager’s door when Barrie McKay was signed - there is a fight for places in all areas of the pitch.

Yes, the goalkeeper position is obviously very different, in the sense that you can only play one of them and they do not tend to chop and change very often.

But Smith is a level headed lad and, more importantly, his attitude has been absolutely spot on throughout all of this.

We spoke to him a few weeks ago, shortly after Frederik Ronnow had become the latest in the long line of keepers to be linked with Forest.

He admitted it was something he thought about - but was not massively troubled by.

As he put it, nobody had walked through the door to take his place, had they? And he said he would not worry about it overly, until they had.

His focus was on producing his best possible performances for Forest - and on improving on the flaws in his game which he knows he has.

Smith is a very good young keeper, with a lot of potential and with a lot to learn, still.

The fact that Forest wanted to add another keeper to their ranks does not make Smith any less of an asset, in the same way that the arrival of Daryl Murphy reflects poorly on Ben Brereton.

I know I am stretching that point a little bit with that comparison. But it sounds as though Warburton has constantly spoken to Smith and reassured him that he is still highly valued, even as the search for a new keeper has gone on.

12:23

It has kinda already happened once before...

In March 2008, Dimi Konstantopoulos signed on loan for Forest from Coventry - and ruptured his achilles in his very first training session. There was even some suggestion that it might have been with his very first kick of the ball.

Let’s hope Federici does not end up being a follow up to that sorry tale, but it does feel like a possibility.

When it comes to Jordan Smith, Mark Warburton spoke at length about this yesterday.

There is an obvious, natural sense of concern that Smith’s confidence might have been damaged by this whole saga - but it is clear that Warburton has consistently talked to Smith and kept him updated when it comes to his thinking over the pursuit of a new keeper.

12:19

QUESTION from Neil H...

Is the signing of Federici likely to be a future quiz question along the lines of ‘Which footballer never even stepped foot in the city of his team’? in all seriousness I wish him a speedy recover but will the transfer and subsequent injury have an adverse effect on Smith? He must have felt like he was going to be back up to Federici but now is back being first choice - does MW have complete faith in him?

12:18

Yes... and no

If it is indeed a serious injury - and we expect some clarification on this later this evening - then the loan will naturally be cancelled, in the sense that he will never come to Nottingham and he will complete his recovery at Bournemouth, where his family remain and where he knows all the staff.

The discussions over the financial costs of this will no doubt have started already.

In the circumstances, it feels very unlikely that Forest will be saddled with paying his wages until January, if the worst does come to the worst and he does not play again between now and January.

Some sort of agreement will be reached between the three parties.

But let’s hope it does not come to that and that Federici is back playing within a month or two. We will see. As I said, we are expecting an update on this later.